As I reported, the Malcolm Yonge Gym demolition had started…and was mostly completed yesterday.
I took this photo at 6 am today:
Getting Up to Speed:
Last spring, the City of Pensacola closed the facility that had been leased to Lighthouse Private Christian Academy because of the near-failing condition of the arches.
- The City made the decision to demolish the gym after the cost to replace the gym would cost more than $3 million. A contract for demolition was approved last month by the Community Redevelopment Agency.
Citizens formed Save Malcolm Yonge Gym and began seeking to gather 4,138 signatures to force a citywide effort to reverse the approval of the contract. Jonathan Green tried to get a temporary restraining order to halt demolition for 60 days to give them time to get enough signatures. A judge rejected his request but gave him 14 days to refile, which he has done.
- On Monday, Mayor Reeves and staff presented the CRA with their recommendation to build 12 affordable houses on the gym’s site. His staff is exploring putting the land into a land trust to ensure the homes stay affordable.
- On my show on WCOA this week, the mayor said, “I’m very motivated to not only try to create attainable housing for our workforce but also to make sure that it stays attainable for in perpetuity for my kids and grandkids so that those houses would still be in the affordable pool.”
Save Malcolm Yonge Gym hasn’t given up. They posted on their website:
WE ARE HEADED FOR FEDERAL COURT! Any bit helps! Our volunteers are paying for the cost to force the city to REBUILD the Malcolm Yonge Community Center out of our own pockets. We are trying to garner enough signatures to place this item on a city-wide ballot, and pay the legal costs.
They have started a GoFundMe account.
What’s Next
During the first half hour of my radio show this morning, I will have Teresa Hill of Save Our Malcolm Yonge Gym and Jonathan Green and Mayor D.C. Reeves – not at the same time. But I will give each a chance to be heard.
At 7:30 a.m., Councilman Charles Bare will be my guest. I booked him before the demolition started and asked him to talk about his desire to have the city add more indoor gyms. We will probably touch on the demolition.
The fun starts at 7 a.m. Listen online.
Featured photo by BRUNO CERVERA on Unsplash